Use all your skill and strategy to defend your castle walls from a fire-breathing dragon.

Rally your troops to destroy your enemies’ walls, repair your own or capture control points for a tactical advantage.

Engage in a bloody quest for power with or against friends in versus and co-op modes, locally or via PlayStation Network.

Playing with fire

Engage in a deadly game of medieval ping-pong in Warlords for PlayStation 3, as you use a giant, ancient shield to fend off lethal attacks and smash opponents into oblivion.

Take command of a fortress filled with loyal troops – known as Snooks – and use all of your powers of anticipation and timing to protect it from a series of increasingly furious assaults. The war of attrition is initiated when a dragon swoops in to deliver its payload – a fireball which ricochets between the four walls of the battle arena, weakening the towers that stand in the corners.

Preserve your foot soldiers and your stronghold by using the left stick to manoeuvre your formidable shield from side to side to deflect the fiery missiles heading your way. Turn defence into attack by squeezing the R2 button to seize a fireball and charge it up, before launching it at enemy castles to pummel your rivals’ defences.

Bring your Snooks into play, too, by instructing them to hammer away at enemy walls. Use the right stick to position a rallying point next to an opponent’s castle, and a steady stream of Snooks will overpower anything in their way, letting you concentrate fire elsewhere.

Show no mercy – download Warlords to your PS3 system from PlayStation Store today.

Four can feel the burn

Mobilise your minions to grind up to three friends into dust via PlayStation Network, as Warlords provides a blistering test of resolve under fire.

In the no-man’s-land that separates the warring factions, special panels can be activated to gain crucial advantages. A fortress could be clad entirely in iron to become fireproof, for instance, a charged shot could deliver more damage or you could deploy the Black Knight to rampage through enemy defences.

Gaining the upper hand means combining your defensive efforts with team management by reacting to multiple fireballs while rallying your troops. It’s a little like trying to pat your head and rub your belly at the same time, with the humiliation of your friends being the prize for perfecting your co-ordination.

Team up with a partner to take on another pair, or dive into a manic free-for-all of criss-crossing flame trails in Warlords on PS3. However you choose to play, leave no stone unburned in your quest for victory.